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Everyday is Christmas Day when you're in Bethlehem! We started the day by travelling into the Palestinian West Bank to the Shepherd's Field to the caves where shepherds “kept watch over their flock.” Here, the Gospel of Luke tells us, an angel announced the birth of Jesus to the Shepherds.
We celebrated a Christmas Mass in a cave like chapel under the Shepherd's Field Church. We sung Christmas Carols and venerated baby Jesus.
After Mass we walked to the upper Church. It was quaint church with beautiful Christmas scene paintings on the side altars. The main altar in the centre is held up by four bronze shepherds and there were figures of angels everywhere honouring their first announcement of the birth of Jesus.
From the Shepherd's Field Church, just like the Shepherds we could look over and see The Church of the Nativity in the distance - our next destination on our Christmas pilgrimage! We bend low to enter The Church of the Nativity through the door of humility. Some say the door was made small to prevent horsemen from entering the basilica during the Ottoman period. Others say, the tiny door causes everyone who enters to bow before they come in, as a check to our own pride and egos. So now all pilgrims who visit the sacred site of Jesus’ birth, must bow down to enter. They must bow as the Magi did in bringing their gifts from afar. The gospels say that as they approached the child, they fell down and worshipped, and only then offered their treasures. They approached him in great humility .
Inside are pilgrims from variety of Christian faiths. This is a parish church for the Greek Orthodox and the sanctuary has ornate iconostasis gilded panels.
We waited in line to visit the grotto ... we stood in line for about an hour which is apparently pretty good.
When we finally made it to the front of the line we stepped down a steep staircase with beautiful fabric lining the walls, and at the foot of the staircase was the grotto - the place where Jesus was born!
Far from the Christmas-card image, the place of Christ’s birth is a dimly-lit rock cave. Instead of a star above, a 14-point silver star on the marble floor of the Grotto of the Nativity bears the words “Hic de Virgine Maria Jesus Christus natus est” (Here Jesus Christ was born to the Virgin Mary).
The 14 point star symbolises the 14 generations from Abraham to Jesus. You were able to spend a quick 5-10 seconds in veneration before being shuffled on.
This was quite a hurried experience and not a lot of time to really absorb that you were really here where Jesus was born. It's perhaps a moment we can reflect on during prayer.
We then visited the Israel Museum that has a large outdoor model of the Old City. Inside is an exhibition on the Dead Sea Scrolls that are 2000 years old. When they were discovered in 1947, Rami explained their significance in affirming the coming of Jesus from a 7 meter scroll found from Isaiah.
Merry Christmas from Bethlehem ... "Hark the heard Angels sing, glory to the new born King ..."